Anyanwu, who is also a standout basketball player, attended the Minnesota Under the Lights football camp and was several Gopher home games such as the Miami of Ohio and Iowa games.
Duke Anyanwu, a 6-foot-4, 200-pound senior quarterback/wide receiver/athlete from Blaine (MN) High, had an outstanding final season. He helped lead the Bengals to a 8-3 mark this year, losing to Anoka 27-22 in the Section 7AAAAA finals. Anyanwu, who is also a standout basketball player, attended the Minnesota Under the Lights football camp and was several Gopher home games such as the Miami of Ohio and Iowa games. He recently talked to GopherHole.com about the very latest on his recruitment in an exclusive interview.
Anyanwu completed 115 of 161 passes for 925 yards and five scores. He was even more effective as a runner as he carried the ball 199 times for 1130 yards with 18 touchdowns.
Anyanwu played behind quarterback Eric Kline, who was the Minneapolis Star Tribune Metro Player of the Year and is now at South Dakota State, last season. He played wide receiver last year and helped lead the Bengals to a 10-1 mark, losing to eventual state champion Wayzata 34-0 in the Class 5A quarterfinals. He completed six of seven passes for 51 yards and caught 25 passes for 361 yards (14.4 yards per reception) and two touchdowns. Anyanwu rushed seven times for 27 yards.
Anyanwu averaged 9.4 points per game for the Bengals, who finished 19-10 on the hardwood. They lost to Duluth East 56-54 in the Class AAAA, Section 7 finals. He scored in double figures in 14 of 28 games with a season-best 19 points against Robbinsdale Armstrong.
Anyanwu recently talked to GopherHole.com about the very latest on his recruitment in an exclusive interview.
GH: What is the latest on your recruitment?
DA: I am up to four offers now (Air Force, South Dakota State, Northern Iowa and North Dakota) and I am talking to Minnesota a lot and seeing where the process takes me.
GH: I know that you lost in the section finals in a hard-fought game. However, you have to be pretty pleased with your team’s play this year?
DA: I am happy with how we did with what we had. We lost a lot of talent last year and came back and proved people wrong. I couldn’t be more proud of the guys.
GH: What are you hearing from the Gophers?
DA: I am talking to them a lot and they tell to be patient. They are narrowing their recruiting class down. With the season winding down, that is when recruiting picks up for us. They told me that I am high on their list and that they like me a lot, so hopefully good things will come soon.
GH: Is that tough to be patient because I am sure that you have friends who are talking about their college choices and you have to wait a little bit?
DA: It is tough, but I have got to wait for it. I just have to be patient, especially with me because I am being recruited at different positions, so it is a different process
GH: What position are the Gophers looking at you playing in college?
DA: Right now, they are looking at me as an athlete. Earlier, it was as a quarterback. They are seeing where they can utilize me at.
GH: How about the upcoming season? I know that you had received some basketball recruiting interest, but have told schools that you are looking at playing just football in college.
DA: Basketball, we look pretty decent this year. We have a lot of kids back and I think that we are going to be deeper than we were last year, so it should be fun.